Touch-sensitive displays, or “touch screens,” are increasingly used by many electronic devices, particularly portable computing devices. Touch-sensitive displays are commonly used to display graphics, text, and/or video and also to allow user interaction with an electronic device. A touch-sensitive display detects and responds to contact with a region of the display. For example, a touch-sensitive display may be used to display one or more soft keys, menus, or other items in different regions, and a user contacts the touch-sensitive display at a specific region to interact with a particular soft key, menu, or other item.
Unintentional contact with regions of a touch-sensitive display, however, may result in unintentional activation or deactivation of applications or device functionality. To avoid unintentional activation or deactivation due to unintentional contact with a touch-sensitive display, one or more lock conditions may be used to place the electronic device and/or one or more applications executed by the electronic device in a locked state. While in a locked state, contact with the touch-sensitive display may only initiate certain functions such as the unlock function and, optionally, the ability to answer (or silence) an incoming call.
Conventionally, a touch-sensitive display transitions from a locked state to an unlocked state by the user touching a set of regions of the touch-sensitive display in a defined pattern or by contacting the touch-sensitive display along a predetermined path. There is an opportunity develop additional unlocking mechanisms for an electronic device having a touch-sensitive display.
Skilled artisans will appreciate that elements in the drawings are illustrated for simplicity and clarity and have not necessarily been drawn to scale. For example, the dimensions of some of the elements in the drawings may be exaggerated relative to other elements to help to improve understanding of embodiments of the present invention. The apparatus and method components have been represented where appropriate by conventional symbols in the drawings, showing the specific details that are pertinent to understanding the embodiments of the present invention so as not to obscure the disclosure with details that will be readily apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art having the benefit of the description herein.